MTA renegotiates East Side Access contract

The MTA says it is aiming to shave more than two years' work off its massive East Side Access project after renegotiating a $1.2-billion pact with its biggest contractor.

Agency officials warned, however, that the $7.4-billion project linking the Long Island Rail Road to Grand Central Terminal still could face significant delays because of complications from Amtrak's separate, competing rehabilitation of the four East River tunnels. The MTA megaproject has a completion deadline of April 2018 to keep $2.6 billion in federal funding.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board Wednesday approved the renegotiated contract with Dragados/Judlau Joint Venture, a Manhattan firm responsible for boring the 22-foot-diameter tunnels through which the trains will roll.

The restructured deal aims to cut 28 months of work from Dragados/Judlau's contract by reducing the scope of its responsibilities. It also reduces the contract's cost by $17 million, although MTA officials said that credited money could go to other contractors who assume Dragados/Judlau's prior responsibilities.

The MTA sought to renegotiate the deal after the contractor fell about 3 1/2 years behind schedule. The new contract sets a completion date of August 2013.

Dragados/Judlau representatives did not respond to a request for comment.

"Their work has been less than stellar. I think anybody would say that," said MTA board member Mitchell Pally of Stony Brook. "It's easy to say, 'Get rid of them and bring somebody else in,' but that could lose you like two years. So you have to work with what is there."

SEE PHOTOSLIRR trains and commuters through the years

The revised pact creates financial incentives of up to $16 million if Dragados/Judlau can get ahead of schedule, and nearly $50 million in penalties if the contractor falls further behind. The prior contract had a penalty amount of $15 million.

The goal, MTA Capital Construction president Michael Horodniceanu said, was to give the firm "a carrot and a stick.

"We believe that people are motivated by bonuses as well as disincentives," he said. "You cannot just punish someone. A very important part of doing business is how you motivate people to do a good job. We feel very confident that they will meet this."

Delays have plagued the East Side Access project since major construction began in 2007. The Federal Transit Administration has called the rate of progress on some key aspects "unacceptable" and has described the overall outlook as "grim."

The revised contract aims to save time by creating opportunities for other contractors to get into the subterranean caverns and tunnels to begin their work, which they have not been able to do until Dragados/Judlau finished all its work.

Though the new pact aims to mitigate tunnel-work delays, MTA officials still wouldn't commit to a completion date earlier than 2018. They have said the biggest obstacle to creating a one-seat train ride from Long Island to Manhattan's East Side is the need to replace all tracks inside the four East River tunnels, which are owned by Amtrak.

That work, which could take up to four years to complete, is being staged largely from the same Long Island City rail yard used for East Side Access work. The projects' dueling needs at the yard, also used by New Jersey Transit, and the New York and Atlantic Railway freight operation, has led to major scheduling conflicts.

"It's very complicated to do and we're working our way through that," new MTA chairman Joseph Lhota said.

In an interview earlier this month, Lhota, who grew up in Lindenhurst, called the East Side Access project a "game-changer" that will ease Nassau and Suffolk residents' commutes into the city and "change the dynamics" of Long Island's economy.